Jasmine and Rose
by anahita
Summary: Larsa has an unexpected guest on the night of his 18th birthday [LarsaxPenelo]


Disclaimer: Not mine.

Notes: This story follows the FFXII post-game timeline, as I have not yet played RW and therefore am not familiar with any retconning that may have taken place within that game.

Jasmine and Rose

It began on his 18th birthday, the first time Penelo paid Larsa an unexpected visit. Up until that night the two of them were very close friends, despite the fact that their roles in society were polar opposites. He ruled a large, industrialized nation, and she preferred the free, unfettered life of a sky pirate, but even then, they had managed to maintain a strictly platonic yet warm relationship.

At least Larsa had always believed that to be the case, but on that night it became very evident to the young Emperor that the last thing Penelo was interested in discussing that evening was the platonic nature of their relationship. She straddled his waist and grabbed his wrists, pinning his arms against the soft feather mattress and teasingly scolded him for having such a lax security system as to allow a sky pirate to sneak into his private quarters so easily. And what if she had nefarious plans? She could have easily killed him and nobody could know, she continued, as she went on and on about that issue while Larsa could do nothing more than lay in his bed, dumbstruck, sweaty, breathless and a bit sore in the hips over what had just occurred in his room. He could only apologize to her, and assure her that he would talk to Basch about her concerns on the matter of his safety.

Penelo – one of his dearest friends - had just appeared in his room and had thoroughly seduced him before he could come to his senses, and now she had just left his bath with her hair soaking wet and unbound and clinging to the sides of her face and shoulders. She was dressed in the same white cotton night shirt that Larsa himself was wearing just a few hours earlier, right before she made her grand appearance at the side of his bed, and promptly stripped him of it. Droplets of water from her hair soaked through the thin, billowy cotton, and the fabric clung to her shoulders and small breasts. Larsa turned his eyes away and blushed, trying to afford his friend a bit of modesty despite what had just taken place between the two of them. Penelo could only laugh at his bashfulness under those particular circumstances, and then she climbed on top of him for another kiss.

"You've always been such a paragon of gentlemanly virtue; I absolutely adore that about you…" She said as her lips were pressed softly against his, and she stroked his face with her small, thin fingers. Her skin was so warm and soft fresh from the bath that he felt himself get dizzy again from her touch and kiss.

And then she was gone from his bed, with a promise that she would be back someday to return his shirt – leaving him alone, naked and cold. She was gone from his room, as suddenly as she had arrived only hours earlier.

He contemplated climbing out of bed to close the window, or at the very least to wash up, but he was still too shocked to move. His mind was spinning as he tried to come up with some logical reason for what had just transpired. He was seduced by his oldest and closest friend. Why would she do that? He thought to himself, trying to remember the contents of the scores of letters that she had sent him over the years, trying to recall anything that suggested that she held romantic feelings for him.

The next day, Larsa casually told Basch that he was concerned about the level of security around the premises during the night, as he had promised Penelo he would. Basch merely flashed him a knowing, lascivious smirk and asked him if anything had happened to merit such concern. Mortified, Larsa retired to his bedroom. He spent the better part of the day inspecting all of the letters that Penelo had sent, and he found nothing. Not one clue to suggest that she desired him as anything more than just a friend. His mind told him to let it go. To stop dwelling on it or trying to rationalize it. It told him to just be happy that he had gotten laid and to leave it at that.

Months passed, and the letters continued to arrive as if nothing amiss had happened between the two of them. Penelo mentioned nothing of their tryst on the evening of his last birthday in any of her letters. It almost got to the point that Larsa began to think that he had imagined everything from that night. He was ready to just dismiss everything he thought he remembered as nothing more than an incredibly lucid, slow-motion, sticky-sweet dream… if it only weren't for the butterfly hairpin she had accidentally left behind in his bed.

And then one day it all became clear to him. Penelo was a sky pirate. Adventure was in her blood. She craved it; she yearned for it with every cell in her body, and what better way to add to her list of conquests and chapters for her future memoirs than to throw in a steamy fling with an Emperor? It finally made perfect sense!

Larsa was content with that justification as well as a bit relieved by it. It made his life a lot less complicated. Soon afterwards he was able to file away the memory of Penelo from that night so that it would no longer distract him from his daily routine, and he brushed aside all thoughts of possibly building up on that night and making something substantial out of it – as silly as it was. Larsa had to be mindful of his position. He had to be extra careful with matters concerning romance. His position being what it was, he could not afford to be careless with his choice of partners, as he realized more and more with each passing day that his heart was not so careful about such things.

And then Penelo returned, as she promised she would.

It was on the eve of his 19th birthday, almost one year after her first visit. Again he was in his bed asleep when Penelo had come back to him. The entire scene played out so very much like the first time that it was nothing less than surreal. It was as if Larsa was dreaming the whole thing as he looked upon the girl sitting on the windowsill of his bedroom with her skirt hiked up enough to reveal her thin, tanned legs. One thing was different than the first visit, he realized. She was wearing the night shirt that she had taken from him the year before.

Once again she cursed his useless guards for making him so damn accessible to her.

He asked her what she was doing as she approached him.

She said she did not know, as she climbed into his bed and kissed him, long and sweet. He nodded and allowed himself to be consumed by her. And after a moment, he forgot what it was that he thought he she said, as he was no longer able to form or maintain a coherent thought.

Suddenly, Penelo remembered. She said she had come to return his shirt, as she peeled it off her back and flung it across the room.

Penelo stayed longer that time, lying next to him, holding him in her arms, teasing him, playing with him, driving him mad with desire.

Before she left, she told him that she would see him again next year. And true to her sky pirate form, she took his earrings as a trophy from that particular conquest. Larsa allowed her to carryout that symbolic theft, tilting his head to allow her easier access to his earlobes as she removed each of them. They were just everyday-wear studs of semi-precious gems having no particular sentimental value, however Larsa was not about to let that act go unmatched. He took the end of one of the ribbons that bound her golden hair, and wove it between his thumb and index finger. He tugged on it as she sat up and left the bed. He had decided that he would not let her leave until he had taken his own prize. Penelo smiled warmly at him as one of her braids became unbound and she nodded. "Very well, then." She said, leaving his room the same way she had entered only a few hours earlier.

Larsa wrapped the thin red ribbon around his hand and fingers and brought it up to his nose. The fabric was silk and it smelled of the fragrant oils she used in her baths. It smelled of jasmine and rose and cardamom and everything that could be so warm and exotic about a pirate girl from the desert kingdom. It made him dizzy and mad with longing, just as she did. He tucked it under his pillow.

During the next few months – correspondence from Penelo began to gradually lessen and lessen, and on his next birthday, she did not visit him like she said she would. Larsa found that he was unable to fall asleep that night. He pulled out the ribbon that he kept under his pillow and brought it to his lips, the smell of her had all but faded from it. His hands began to shake. He was dismayed and confused and even a bit heartbroken, despite the fact he had always known that any type of relationship between them would be doomed from the start.

He wondered when exactly it happened that his heart began to yearn for her like that.

A few months later, on her birthday, Larsa wrote her a letter containing only the words 'I miss you'. Inside the envelope he placed the butterfly hairpin that she had accidentally left behind two birthdays ago, and sent it to Rabanastre. And then he waited for a response. He was not sure if he expected any to come his way.

But one letter came. Penelo apologized for her lack of letters of late, and mentioned that she was a bit busier than usual because she and Vaan had a new apprentice that they were training. She also thanked him for returning her hairpin. It was a good response, Larsa thought as he read over it again and again. It was emotionless, unsentimental, and to the point, exactly what he needed to read. Reading between the lines he could tell that she was with Vaan and that she was happy and busy living the full and adventurous life of a sky pirate that she had always wanted. Vaan could give her that life. He could not. She deserved Vaan.

Larsa felt heartbroken, and yet at the same time he also felt like a huge burden was lifted from his back. He was genuinely happy for her.

Then a few months later, to his surprise Penelo visited him again. It occurred during the day that time, and through more traditional and decidedly un-pirate-like methods. She found him tending to the jasmine shrubs that he had recently planted in his private garden. Larsa beamed when he saw her, despite himself.

As she approached him, her face looked pale and somber. Larsa was confused. And then he began to worry. This was not the Penelo he had known. Something was terribly wrong. He wondered if something had happened to Vaan.

She apologized, telling him that she was not completely honest with him in her last letter, and she could not live with herself if she kept it to herself much longer, and besides that, Vaan was getting so fed up with her indecisiveness that he himself was threatening to clear the air between the two of them unless she did so herself. Larsa shook his head, confused. He could barely follow her incoherent babbling, so he simply took her slim body into his arms and hugged her tightly.

He clenched his eyes shut and breathed her in for a moment. It felt so good to feel her close to him again. Then he flinched as he felt something move beneath her coat. His eyes grew wide as he pulled back and stared at a lump at her midsection, Penelo was having a baby.

And then he quickly realized that he was only partially correct in his assessment of the situation, as Penelo undid her coat and pulled out the source of that lump to reveal an infant, a baby girl from all appearances, already several months old. "This is Reks." She said, caressing the child's face with one finger. "This is our new apprentice that I mentioned in my letter." She explained.

Reks – the child carried the name of Vann's brother. "Hello, Reks." Larsa said in a soft tone of voice. He smiled warmly. She was a golden-haired little thing like its parents, looking snug and warm and dressed in a furry white outfit that resembled a moogle. Her eyes were wide open and staring at him, and her thick, curly hair made her almost look cherubic.

"Penelo, she's beautiful." Larsa said, finding himself mesmerized by her. He really could see Penelo's features in that tiny face already.

Penelo corrected him, sounding a bit short. 'SHE?' The child was a boy! Penelo assured him, reminding him that he bore a male name and was named after a male relative of Vaan's. Larsa laughed uncomfortably and apologized to him. But pierced ears and white and pink moogle-suits on babies had a tendency to add confusion to matters such as gender recognition. Not that he would tell Penelo that. He was so happy to have just seen her again that he did not want to disrupt that atmosphere between them.

The baby cooed. He was seemingly comfortable and content to be lounging in his woven sling, despite the fact that a new, strange face looking down at him. Larsa noticed that he was wearing the earrings that Penelo took from him the last night they were together.

He told Penelo again that she had a beautiful son and that he wished that she would have brought Vaan along with her so that he could congratulate him as well.

Penelo frowned and shook her head. She asked Larsa why it was that he did not recognize his own eyes.

Larsa's mouth went dry and all the color drained from his face.

Penelo sat on a bench and watched Larsa bonding with the baby, as father and son became acquainted with one another for the first time. He held the boy close and softly spoke some words into his ear in a language that she was not familiar with, and kissed him gently on his forehead.

Larsa looked over at her and smiled sweetly, he then handed the child back to her. Despite the reunion going as well as she could have hoped, a tense, heavy atmosphere existed between the two of them, as they both knew that so many new questions and concerns and uncertainties had formed between them. They both knew that they could never go back to being 'just friends'.

But those concerns would have to be dealt with some other time.

Penelo remarked that it was getting dark, and that she should be getting back, as she tucked the baby back into his sling.

Larsa gently hugged her from behind, so as to not crush the baby, and told her that he was so very happy to see her again.

Penelo turned around, cupped his face in her hands. She told him that she would see him again on his next birthday, and pulled him close as she pressed her parted lips against his own.

"Or perhaps sooner." Penelo corrected herself as she leaned in for one more.

Fin


End file.
